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Tomb Raider 8
All the secrets of the Next Gen Lara
It's offcial, you're the first to see the new Tomb Raider on PS3. It's adventure, Suspense , and mystery. Are you ready for a new love story ?
It's a Thunderstorm evening, one that are not forgotten. The rain give to the vegetation a strange looking. The thunder make a earthquake. The sky is low, clouds are oppressive and only incessant lightning illuminated the unreal moor . In this end of the world atmostphere, a figure stands out.
She is alone, standin there upright and immobile, she sits like a statue ready to challenge the wrath of the gods. Flashes, like sent from the sky, draw a shape perfectly drawn, a grace so natural that it seems familiar. The unbearable noise seems to have no effect on her. The time is still. The path lined with tropical foliage fades into darkness, leaving a distant horizon filled with promise and fears. The first moves leave very little place for doubt : the silhouette is familiar. Just out of the darkness, she is finally back from purgatory. The way to salvation is long, the rebirth is even longer, but this time, she firmly decided not to let her chance go any longer. At the first sight we think she has the means. The shoes are rising to delight her, the tiny shorts fits and hugs her body, the colts cling to the hips of dreams, and the braid is waving in the wind. The beauty is back and, and even in our most torrid dreams, she's never been so seductive. As if she had always been there, buried in the depths of our fantasies, she finally stood there, ready to fulfill our gamer desires.
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Open tombs
Lara picks up the pace, because the adventure can not wait. Down there in the jungle, the fight is already on. A bunch of armed guys are fighting huge panthers. She doesn't need anymore than this to jump on the field. Automatic lock-on, jumps of all sorts, dodges and precise shots follow each other on a crazy rhythm and in one blink you find yourself in a too familiar field. If combat has never been her cup of tea, it's very likely that it won't change that much in this new game. Regarding the combats, the multiple targets is a good asset, and the use of the environment could make a great difference, but that's not what we came for. We can also pick up some parts of the environment to use them as weapons or throw them in the enemies' face, but combats are just there for clearing the place up before starting the serious part. And it won't be long before you realise how serious it can be. In front of us, in this apocalyptic atmosphere, stands a vision from another time. Welcome in Tomb Raider, welcome in Mayan ruins, filled with mysteries and treasures. Out of nowhere, ancestral stones and columns are forming an almost impassable rampart. But that is if you don't know the young lady's, who is, more than ever, wearing the perfect acrobat kit. From now on, everything is possible, and the amounts of new animations left us speechless. The girl jumps and grabs everything with a disconcerting ease.
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She can stand on top of pillars, use gymnast techniques on beams and other poles, she can get a grip on every single edge and she twirls on slippery surfaces. She can even draw her weapons in the middle of these acrobatics to shoot down of few irritating beasts. Something is new in the state of Tomb Raider and it's obvious.
Steady as a rock
On the highest level of the temple, Lara is taking a break and searches for the safest path to achieve her ends. Something has changed, she seems wiser, more thoughtful. Her features are like her behaviour. Her face seems a bit rougher and older, it's an almost thirty-year-old girl who is moving in front of us. Nevertheless, her charm and her assets still make us quiver. As she slowly leans over the abyss, she notices that the rain has intensified. She stands under the pouring water and uses it to clean the mud accumulated on herself during her journey. At this moment, you can see the water falling along the stone walls and flowing out to a huge paving stone sealed to the ground. It's the first time in the history of videogame rain that the water is so well handled. It's just fabulous. Moreover, it allows us to infer from the water flowing through the stone that there's something under it. A secret passage. Don't worry, just a glimpse and we can spot the huge rock balanced above us. The move is as logical as it is easy : the new grapple is shot directly, a little bit like a pneumatic crossbow. Hammered in the opposite wall, the rope levers up the rock and, after a few efforts of traction - remarkably animated - the rock falls and crashes on the ground, making the paving stone explode. A deep abyss, filled with roots, vines, and creatures of darkness is showing. The beauty doesn't wait and jumps in.
Puzzles and secrets
The big secret of this new Tomb Raider mainly comes from the fact that the developers betted everything on the cohesion between environments and progress. Everything seems conceived so that every single part of the decor leads the player to take a logical path. But the challenges and the puzzles are from a highest level.
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Studying the places, examining the possibilities offered by the architecture and acting according to it, this seems simple but in the facts, you'll have to seriously think about it. The gears are complicated, and you'll have to turn and go back several times to access the hardest passages. To do so, the vehicules are included. For the impatient ones, the good news is that Lara has finally decided to try the wild run. In addition to the usual footing, it's possible to sprint like mad for bigger and higher jumps. About her new skills, the objects picked up by Lara can be used on some parts of the environments. For example, you pick up an old spear on the ground, and on the next surface you spot a little hole. Insert the spear in the hole : you now have a pole for some gym exercising. Yes, this will give you some headaches. Fortunately, for the most sceptical ones, and to allow everyone to complete the game, a system of hints will be possible to avoid the discouragement and the frustration (common feelings in the TR series).
Immortal, immortal...
The shadow of the opened abyss is almost oppressive. The torch tied up to her shoulder has some trouble to overcome the thick darkness. The heavy silence is only disturbed by the rain lapping on the ground and the bugs running away, scared by the new bright light. The progress is perilous and the stones are slippery.
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After one slightly missed jump, our adventurer has to get a grip on an edge, but her hand fails because of some slippery moss and she hardly avoids the mortal fall. Finally on the steady ground, an alcove is revealed by a flash of lightning. The artefact is there, lying on the floor. The path to get out is easier and when you exit, you realise that the weather is a bit calmed down. Accessing the platform above the ruins is only easier. The complicated mechanism in front of Lara looks like a zodiac circle, turning on 3 levels. Once the artefact is inserted inside its pedestal, you'll have to align something similar to planets. On Mayan ruins, an eclipse should produce some effect. And this is saying the least, because as soon as you perform the right alignment, huge columns are rising from the ground, revealing a colossal snake made of stone, spitting the fire of Hell. Underneath, stairs are leading deep inside the temple. No time to lose : the mechanism is ticking like it's a timed run. Previously, when we arrived, we parked the motorbike nearby. Time to sprint and jump on the vehicule. As fast as possible, avoiding the stones and doing crazy jumps, we drive like mad to the entrance before it closes. The breaking is violent, the skidding is harsh, the tyres scream and stop a few centimeters before a gap full of spikes. The Mayan treasure isn't far away but the traps awaiting are getting worse and worse and even more deadly.
Lara forever ?
Announced for 2008, this Tomb Raider 8 shouldn't be out before the end of the year. There's still alot of work to do and a lot of questions before we know what it's really worth. The engine is nice, and the possibilites offered by the next-gen predict an adventure as intense as it is sumptuous.
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If the combats seem a bit weak at the moment, the exploration and platform sides made us drool. Let's be very clear : Lara has never been as beautiful. The care brought to the environments is a treat for the lovers of realism and details. The use of these environments could even become an example for the level design of this kind of game. Animations carefully crafted, amazing management of the weather and the light reinforce the idea that this new game will be one of the biggest hits of the coming year. Yes, we've been seduced by this first rendez-vous, but as we never kiss [ok, that's not exactly what he says, but you get the idea] on the first date, we'll have to bet on more dates to be sure of this love story. What is certain is that Lara is ready again to make a big entrance into our lives, and that we probably won't go to sleep on the couch. Unless she's there too...
Boxes
Lara Comaneci
Cartwheels and headstands on beams, flipping and twisting around poles, rolling and jumping on the ground, Miss Croft has everything for an Olympic medal. To reach such a level of realism (and beauty) the developers used the motion capture. The several sessions allowed themto include new movesimprovised by the actors. The result is wonderful, except maybe the side jumps that are a little too stiff yet.
New frontiers
All the locations visited and explored in this game will be original. This means that she won't go back where she's been before. The story happens nowadays, and Australia, Easter Island, Rome, the Vatican, Mesopotamia and the Golden Triangle (
Wiki) could be on the map. We are also expected one or more underwater level.
Losing grip
One of the big new features for our nicely shaped heroine is that from now on, she'll be able to release one or even two hands to shoot whatever is moving around. Hanging on a pole or an edge, Miss can shoot all around. In terms of game design, the possibilities are multiple, and you can expect moments mixing action and platforming. Jumping in the air, twisting and exploding a part of the environment so you can use it to access another part of the level. This makes us dream.
The Manor of Madame
This is the big comeback for the Manor. Completely remade, this mythical place will allow Lara to improve her training and her techniques. Having said that, expect no improvement of her skills during the game : she'll have everything from the start. This is also the place where her new outfits will be available, and there are chances to find of Research & Development room like in James Bond, with all the gear and vehicules.
Mytho-logical
The universe of the game is really elaborated, especially the enemies. If, at this moment, we only saw panthers and dumb hooded guys, the existence of clever enemies has been confirmed. We could even have a glimpse at one of the bosses. If nothing is definitive, it seems that the mythological aspect is very important. Impressive monsters almost directly coming from God of War should show their teeth and other ones, a bit more Sci-Fi, could be living together. Performing epic combats and solving puzzles at the same time. Well... this makes us dream. __________________
Tomb Raider Underworld
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by desperate_gamer
) της Lara...
! Το ΤRU θα σκίσει! Ειδικά τώρα που αρχίσαμε καινούρια ιστορία με γερές βάσεις. Καιρό είχαμε να δούμε δομή και ικανοποιητικά sequels στη σειρά! Μετά το last revelation είχαμε μόνο αρπαχτές!
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